Meaning Lab
Podcast
#35: Annie Duke on Betting on Your Best Self
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#35: Annie Duke on Betting on Your Best Self

This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts.


One thing that's immediately clear about Annie Duke is that her best self is pretty damn awesome. In this conversation, we get deep into the story of her career and the key moments that defined who that best self is. It gets really personal really quick. We start off with a discussion of her family, and in particular how she learned to separate work from identity. From there we talk about the big steps in her trajectory, from leaving her PhD program with one month left to go, to deciding on becoming a professional poker player. Then we get into her books: first, Thinking in Bets, as well as her new book, How to Decide. It's a wide ranging conversation, and we cover a lot of interesting ground. Ultimately it comes back to the role of mentors -- Annie has had some great ones in her life -- and how their job is to help you find the best version of yourself.

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Like this episode? Here’s another one to check out:

The New Kommers
#29: Maria Konnikova on Doing the Work
Listen now (82 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
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Meaning Lab
Podcast
Hi there, My name is Cody Kommers. I produced this podcast in graduate school, while doing my PhD in experimental psychology at Oxford. In it, I interviewed over 90+ scientists, authors, and academics about the personal side of their intellectual journey. I wanted to know about the decisions they made when they were in my shoes—just starting their careers—and how those choices impacted the trajectory of their career. I am very thankful to everyone who took the time to share their stories. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to talk to many of the researchers and writers I admire most. I hope these stories can continue to be a resource for other young academics, especially in the cognitive and behavioral sciences.
If you'd like to follow my new work, you can subscribe to Meaning Lab at codykommers.com.